On the third day of the Maratha Quota protest, the agitation escalated and reached Mumbai. Schools and shops in several parts of the city were shut in of the financial capital of India, while roads were blocked and train service disrupted.
ALSO READ: Reservation stir may paralyse Mumbai; keep tabs on this
Earlier today, Maratha Kranti Morcha workers set several vehicles on fire, vandalized public buses in Navi Mumbai’s Ghansoli and Thane’s Wagle estate area. The protestors are demanding 16-17 % reservations in government jobs and educational institutions, want the amendment to the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act, waiver of farmer loans and punitive action against the those who raped the Maratha girl in Ahmednagar.
ALSO READ: Update: Maratha reservation turns violent
In the wake of two suicides in two days, the Mumbai Police urged protestors to protest in a peaceful manner. While Jagannath Sonavne, who attempted suicide on Tuesday died on Wednesday, a 27-year-old man committed suicide by jumping from a bridge in Aurangabad on Tuesday. Marathas, a politically influential section of Maharashtra account for 30% of the population.
Here is what is happening in Mumbai today:
- All shops near Jogeshwari station have been shut down.
- Commuters are forced to walk to the station as no auto rickshaws are moving.
- Buses have been stopped in the mid-way in Thane as stones were pelted on some TMT buses. No serious injuries have been reported.
- Maratha Kranti Morcha workers have blocked a train in Thane with an aim- ‘Rail Roko’. Due to this, trans-harbor between Thane-Vashi-Panvel has been suspended for now.
- Agitators have halted the public buses outside Thane depot while some have blocked the vehicular movement at the Western Express Highway.
- At some places, protestors are raising slogans against Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Public Work Development Chandrakant Patil for insulting the sentiments of the Maratha community.
- The Maratha community has vowed to besiege Fadnavis’s official residence ‘Varsha’, to make him resign and seek their demands.